There's a boatload of data showing that the most critical element of effective psychotherapy is the "therapeutic alliance." While this is a somewhat squishy ter

There's a boatload of data showing that the most critical element of effective psychotherapy is the "therapeutic alliance." While this is a somewhat squishy term, it's broadly linked to the importance of compassion and relationships. For that reason, simply trying to replace a human with a robot faces huge challenges. But that's the least creative possible solution. I think there are all kinds of behavioral interventions that are difficult or impossible for a human to do that we haven't tried yet. Almost certainly there are lots of them that would work well and would be better delivered by a bot.